M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Uzziah King of Judah

26 Then all the people of Judah made Uzziah^[a] king in place of his father Amaziah. Uzziah was sixteen years old. ² He rebuilt the town of Elath and made it part of Judah again after Amaziah died.

³ Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he ruled fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah, and she was from Jerusalem. ⁴ He did what the Lord said was right, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ Uzziah obeyed God while Zechariah was alive, because he taught Uzziah how to respect and obey God. And as long as Uzziah obeyed the Lord, God gave him success.

⁶ Uzziah fought a war against the Philistines. He tore down the walls around their towns of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod and built new towns near Ashdod and in other places among the Philistines. ⁷ God helped Uzziah fight the Philistines, the Arabs living in Gur Baal, and the Meunites. ⁸ Also, the Ammonites made the payments Uzziah demanded. He was very powerful, so his name became famous all the way to the border of Egypt.

⁹ Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and where the wall turned, and he made them strong. ¹⁰ He also built towers in the desert and dug many wells, because he had many cattle on the western hills and in the plains. He had people who worked his fields and vineyards in the hills and in the fertile lands, because he loved the land.

¹¹ Uzziah had an army of trained soldiers. They were counted and put in groups by Jeiel the royal secretary and Maaseiah the officer. Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders, was their leader. ¹² There were twenty-six hundred leaders over the soldiers. ¹³ They were in charge of an army of three hundred seven thousand five hundred men who fought with great power to help the king against the enemy. ¹⁴ Uzziah gave his army shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and stones for their slings. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem Uzziah made cleverly designed devices. These devices on the towers and corners of the city walls were used to shoot arrows and large rocks. So Uzziah became famous in faraway places, because he had much help until he became powerful.

¹⁶ But when Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his ruin. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God; he went into the Temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar for incense. ¹⁷ Azariah and eighty other brave priests who served the Lord followed Uzziah into the Temple. ¹⁸ They told him he was wrong and said to him, “You don’t have the right to burn incense to the Lord. Only the priests, Aaron’s descendants, should burn the incense, because they have been made holy. Leave this holy place. You have been unfaithful, and the Lord God will not honor you for this.”

¹⁹ Uzziah was standing beside the altar for incense in the Temple of the Lord, and in his hand was a pan for burning incense. He was very angry with the priests. As he was standing in front of the priests, a skin disease broke out on his forehead. ²⁰ Azariah, the leading priest, and all the other priests looked at him and saw the skin disease on his forehead. So they hurried him out of the Temple. Uzziah also rushed out, because the Lord was punishing him. ²¹ So King Uzziah had the skin disease until the day he died. He had to live in a separate house and could not enter the Temple of the Lord. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace, and he governed the people of the land.

²² The other things Uzziah did as king, from beginning to end, were written down by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. ²³ Uzziah died and was buried near his ancestors in a graveyard that belonged to the kings. This was because people said, “He had a skin disease.” And his son Jotham became king in his place.

The Two Beasts

13 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, and there was a crown on each horn. A name against God was written on each head. ² This beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear’s feet and a mouth like a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave the beast all of his power and his throne and great authority. ³ One of the heads of the beast looked as if it had been killed by a wound, but this death wound was healed. Then the whole world was amazed and followed the beast. ⁴ People worshiped the dragon because he had given his power to the beast. And they also worshiped the beast, asking, “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against it?”

⁵ The beast was allowed to say proud words and words against God, and it was allowed to use its power for forty-two months. ⁶ It used its mouth to speak against God, against God’s name, against the place where God lives, and against all those who live in heaven. ⁷ It was given power to make war against God’s holy people and to defeat them. It was given power over every tribe, people, language, and nation. ⁸ And all who live on earth will worship the beast—all the people since the beginning of the world whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life. The Lamb is the One who was killed.

⁹ Anyone who has ears should listen:

This means that God’s holy people must have patience and faith.

¹¹ Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. ¹² This beast stands before the first beast and uses the same power the first beast has. By this power it makes everyone living on earth worship the first beast, who had the death wound that was healed. ¹³ And the second beast does great miracles so that it even makes fire come down from heaven to earth while people are watching. ¹⁴ It fools those who live on earth by the miracles it has been given the power to do. It does these miracles to serve the first beast. The second beast orders people to make an idol to honor the first beast, the one that was wounded by the deadly sword but sprang to life again. ¹⁵ The second beast was given power to give life to the idol of the first one so that the idol could speak. And the second beast was given power to command all who will not worship the image of the beast to be killed. ¹⁶ The second beast also forced all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. ¹⁷ No one could buy or sell without this mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. ¹⁸ This takes wisdom. Let the one who has understanding find the meaning of the number, which is the number of a person. Its number is 666.^[a]

Punishment on Israel’s Enemies

9 This message is the word of the Lord.

The King Is Coming

Jesus with Friends in Bethany

12 Six days before the Passover Feast, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived. (Lazarus is the man Jesus raised from the dead.) ² There they had a dinner for Jesus. Martha served the food, and Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus. ³ Mary brought in a pint of very expensive perfume made from pure nard. She poured the perfume on Jesus’ feet, and then she wiped his feet with her hair. And the sweet smell from the perfume filled the whole house.

⁴ Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ followers who would later turn against him, was there. Judas said, ⁵ “This perfume was worth an entire year’s wages. Why wasn’t it sold and the money given to the poor?” ⁶ But Judas did not really care about the poor; he said this because he was a thief. He was the one who kept the money box, and he often stole from it.

⁷ Jesus answered, “Leave her alone. It was right for her to save this perfume for today, the day for me to be prepared for burial. ⁸ You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.”

The Plot Against Lazarus

⁹ A large crowd of people heard that Jesus was in Bethany. So they went there to see not only Jesus but Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the leading priests made plans to kill Lazarus, too. ¹¹ Because of Lazarus many of the Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem

¹² The next day a great crowd who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast heard that Jesus was coming there. ¹³ So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Jesus, shouting,

¹⁴ Jesus found a colt and sat on it. This was as the Scripture says,

¹⁶ The followers of Jesus did not understand this at first. But after Jesus was raised to glory, they remembered that this had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.

People Tell About Jesus

¹⁷ There had been many people with Jesus when he raised Lazarus from the dead and told him to come out of the tomb. Now they were telling others about what Jesus did. ¹⁸ Many people went out to meet Jesus, because they had heard about this miracle. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to each other, “You can see that nothing is going right for us. Look! The whole world is following him.”

Jesus Talks About His Death

²⁰ There were some Greek people, too, who came to Jerusalem to worship at the Passover Feast. ²¹ They went to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” ²² Philip told Andrew, and then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

²³ Jesus said to them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to receive his glory. ²⁴ I tell you the truth, a grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die to make many seeds. But if it never dies, it remains only a single seed. ²⁵ Those who love their lives will lose them, but those who hate their lives in this world will keep true life forever. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me. Then my servant will be with me everywhere I am. My Father will honor anyone who serves me.

²⁷ “Now I am very troubled. Should I say, ‘Father, save me from this time’? No, I came to this time so I could suffer. ²⁸ Father, bring glory to your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have brought glory to it, and I will do it again.”

²⁹ The crowd standing there, who heard the voice, said it was thunder.

But others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

³⁰ Jesus said, “That voice was for your sake, not mine. ³¹ Now is the time for the world to be judged; now the ruler of this world will be thrown down. ³² If I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people toward me.” ³³ Jesus said this to show how he would die.

³⁴ The crowd said, “We have heard from the law that the Christ will live forever. So why do you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

³⁵ Then Jesus said, “The light will be with you for a little longer, so walk while you have the light. Then the darkness will not catch you. If you walk in the darkness, you will not know where you are going. ³⁶ Believe in the light while you still have it so that you will become children of light.” When Jesus had said this, he left and hid himself from them.

Some People Won’t Believe in Jesus

³⁷ Though Jesus had done many miracles in front of the people, they still did not believe in him. ³⁸ This was to bring about what Isaiah the prophet had said:

³⁹ This is why the people could not believe: Isaiah also had said,

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

⁴² But many believed in Jesus, even many of the leaders. But because of the Pharisees, they did not say they believed in him for fear they would be put out of the synagogue. ⁴³ They loved praise from people more than praise from God.

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me is really believing in the One who sent me. ⁴⁵ Whoever sees me sees the One who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come as light into the world so that whoever believes in me would not stay in darkness.

⁴⁷ “Anyone who hears my words and does not obey them, I do not judge, because I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸ There is a judge for those who refuse to believe in me and do not accept my words. The word I have taught will be their judge on the last day. ⁴⁹ The things I taught were not from myself. The Father who sent me told me what to say and what to teach. ⁵⁰ And I know that eternal life comes from what the Father commands. So whatever I say is what the Father told me to say.”